Dalmore Distillery, Highlands

The Dalmore story began in 1839 with Alexander Matheson, who lived in the Highlands of Northern Scotland. Matheson found the rich peat and pure water sources of the Highlands to be the makings of a perfect Scotch offering. He built a distillery in the area and produced small batches of his Single Highland Malt Scotch until 1886, when the Mackenzie family acquired his operation.

When a member of the Mackenzie family risked his own life to save Scotland’s ruler, King Alexander III, from a charging stag, the grateful king offered a token of his appreciation by bequeathing the stag to the Mackenzie family as a symbol of valor and courage. And more than 130 years later, the stag head still appears on every bottle of The Dalmore.

Today, The Dalmore distillery has ten stone warehouses and eight pot-stills, several which date back to the late 1800s. Much of the distillery burned down during World War I while occupied by the U.S. Navy, but production resumed in 1922. It is now part of the Whyte & Mackay group.

The Dalmore tasting profile is characterised by rich vanilla and caramel notes, derived from aging in bourbon barrels, and a hint of citrus from the distillation in copper pot stills.